General Introduction and Economic Analysis

InEconomic analysis industrializedInnovation countries, the wastewater treatmentWastewater treatment sector shifts paradigmsParadigm to achieve sustainabilitySustainability on top of environmental and healthHealth protectionProtection. Biological processesBiological processes designed for nutrient removalNutrient removal are economically attractive and enable the coupling of wastewater treatmentWastewater treatment and resource recoveryResource recovery. CompactCompact designsDesign are required to remove nutrientsNutrient at high rateRate with low footprintFootprint, energyEnergy, and resourceResource expenditures. BiofilmBiofilm and granular sludge processesGranular sludge process are intensive alternatives to conventional activated sludgeConventional activated sludge configurationsConfiguration. The aerobic granular sludgeAerobic granular sludge technologyTechnology enables the simultaneous removalRemoval of carbonCarbon, nitrogenNitrogen and phosphorusPhosphorus and the clarification of effluentsEffluent in single sequencing batch reactorsSequencing batch reactor. By intensifying wastewater treatmentWastewater treatment, it supports the integration of advanced processesProcess to valorize resourcesResource and eliminate emerging contaminantsEmerging contaminant. An economic analysisEconomic analysis was conducted here to address the savingsSavings in costsCosts associated with municipal wastewaterMunicipal wastewater treatmentTreatment, based on capital and operating expenditures related to the technologyTechnology. Implementing granular sludge processesGranular sludge process in a Swiss WWTPWWTP of 200,000 person equivalentsPerson equivalents could lead to annual savingsSavings of approximately 6 million Swiss francs. Microbiological and biotechnological research can support the fundamentalFundamental understanding of granular sludgeGranular sludge phenomenaPhenomena, the developmentDevelopment of ecological engineeringEcological engineering principles for process designProcess design, and the expansionExpansion of the technologyTechnology as a new standardStandard for biological wastewater treatmentBiological wastewater treatment.